The Blood of the First Emperor
The Emperor's eyes turned toward me.
It was impossible to tell what he was thinking.
"..."
To be honest, it would be a lie to say I wasn't nervous.
After all, I had just watched the commander and the inspector—two high-ranking elves—burst and die like bugs right before my eyes.
Yet, beneath the tension, there was a strange thrill.
A flutter of excitement, perhaps?
Like the racing of one's heart right before opening a gift box.
...Am I insane?
Even to myself, it was absurd. I had witnessed firsthand how overwhelmingly powerful the Emperor was, yet instead of feeling fear, I found it amusing.
Had the Heavenly Slaughter Star trait truly made me lose my mind?
"Fufu."
It happened then.
"Fufu, hahaha. Hahahahaha!"
Out of nowhere, the Emperor burst into laughter. It sounded like a child who had just found a fun new toy after a long time.
On the other hand, the other elves...
"..."
"..."
"..."
They couldn't even breathe, frozen as if they were facing a natural disaster.
"Indeed..."
After laughing for a long while, the Emperor looked down at me, the corners of his mouth curling upward.
"You look upon everything as if they are mere insects."
"..."
"I like that look in your eyes."
"..."
"It resembles my own."
Like hell it does.
I don't herd people into Jamsil Baseball Stadium and tell them to kill each other. We couldn't be more different.
"Which is why a mere human dared to enter my sanctuary..."
The Emperor gave me no room to argue.
"...and slaughter my people."
He was still smiling. But his eyes remained cold and lifeless. How cliché.
"...So?"
I asked, curling my lips into a matching smirk.
"Are you going to kill me?"
Was it because I was imagining a fight with a monster like him? My fingertips tingled. I was dying to grab my sword this very instant.
How wonderful would it be to plunge a blade into his throat, twist it to drain his blood, and rip his heart to shreds?
Thump.
Thump.
Thump.
It would surely bring a pleasure incomparable to killing mere orcs.
Kill him.
Kill him.
Kill him.
An intense urge washed over me.
I can kill him.
And with it, absolute certainty.
Shhh...
My body moved before my brain could process it.
Slide...
As if they already knew where they needed to go.
Slick!
The moment my swords lunged to pierce the Emperor's heart—
*Snap.*
The Emperor snapped his fingers.
*Frizzle...*
Both of my swords crumbled into dust and vanished.
And at the exact same time—
*BOOM!*
Lee Taepyeong lost consciousness on the spot.
"..."
The Emperor looked down at the collapsed Lee Taepyeong.
...I almost died.
If he had been even a fraction of a second slower, Taepyeong's blade would have pierced his heart. The Emperor knew this better than anyone.
If the Emperor had lacked the experience accumulated over hundreds of years, or if Taepyeong had possessed just a tiny bit more experience, the one falling to the ground would have been the Emperor, not the human.
And yet...
"Fufu."
The Emperor smiled. As if he couldn't contain his sheer amusement.
"..."
The other elves, however, could not share his amusement.
They did not understand why the Emperor was laughing, nor why he spared this insolent human.
"Nairin."
The Emperor called out to Nairin, who was still kneeling.
Until the human had called her by name, the Emperor hadn't even known she existed.
"...Please command me, Your Majesty," Nairin replied, her voice trembling violently.
It was only natural, as she had never imagined the Emperor would know her name. It was a miracle she managed to speak without biting her tongue.
"Place the human on the vessel."
"...!"
At his words, Nairin felt a wave of relief. Placing him on the vessel meant he wouldn't be killed.
"I shall obey your command."
Nairin hoisted the unconscious Taepyeong onto her back.
Then, the Emperor made a brief declaration.
"The promotion match is concluded."
Nairin was the sole surviving elf, and she wasn't even the strongest among them.
Furthermore, the human who had ruined the match by slaughtering the elves was allowed to 'survive.'
It was the most anticlimactic and shocking promotion match in history.
"..."
"..."
No one dared to object to the Emperor's decree.
Not the nobles who wanted to cry out in protest, nor the soldiers who had lost their commander, nor the commoners who had watched their kin die.
None of the elves dared to open their mouths; they simply knelt before the Emperor.
"...Tsk."
The Emperor looked down at the elves as if they were insects, then boarded the vessel carrying Taepyeong.
*Whirrrr.*
The moment the Emperor stepped aboard, the vessel flew toward the palace.
"Your Majesty, what shall we do with this human...?"
"Leave him in the audience chamber."
The audience chamber, not the dungeon?
"And..."
That wasn't all.
"...prepare the Blood of ■■■."
"...!!"
It was an incomprehensible command.
The Blood of ■■■ was an honor reserved only for the most outstanding elves who passed the promotion match. It was not something to be given to an elf who survived solely through a human's help.
And for a human to receive it was even more unthinkable...!
But once again...
"...Understood."
No one dared to oppose the Emperor.
"Gasp!"
When I opened my eyes again, I was greeted by an incredibly lavish space.
...What is all this?
Gold, gems, and silk were plastered everywhere. It was the epitome of gaudy, new-money style.
Tacky...
As I looked around, someone rushed over.
"Y-You're awake!"
"Lord Taepyeong!"
"...Nairin?"
It was Nairin.
"Where are we?"
"The imperial palace."
The imperial palace?
Then...
"Where's the Emperor?"
"Shh...!"
Nairin hurriedly covered my mouth.
"You mustn't speak of him so carelessly!"
"If I can't call the Emperor the Emperor, what am I supposed to—"
"Lord Taepyeong!"
Seeing her face turn pale, she seemed absolutely terrified.
Anyway.
"Man, I thought I was a goner."
My body felt stiff. Probably because I had slaughtered so many elves.
"Lord Taepyeong."
Nairin grabbed me, a look of grim determination on her face.
"Do not worry."
"Huh?"
"Even if it costs me my life, I will send you back."
What was she talking about?
"If you don't escape right now, there's no telling what kind of torture you will face."
No, seriously, what was she on about?
"Hey, once the promotion match is over, I can just—"
I was about to tell her that I could just return home.
*Snap.*
The sound of fingers snapping echoed through the room.
And simultaneously—
"Argh!"
Nairin was slammed into the ceiling.
"I spared you thinking you might be of some use."
The Emperor's voice drifted from behind a veil.
"Yet you are no different from the other foolish insects."
*BOOM!*
This time, Nairin was slammed back down onto the floor. She lay motionless, looking dead.
"Groan..."
Ah, she was alive.
I casually pushed myself up.
*Whoosh!*
I swept aside the heavy, hanging veil.
"Taepyeong."
The Emperor stood behind the veil.
"Is that what I should call you?"
Smiling, the Emperor offered me something resembling a wine glass.
What is this?
It was a delicately crafted golden goblet. Inside was a swirling purple liquid.
*Swirl...*
The purple liquid swirled as if it were alive.
"This is the Blood of ■■■."
The Emperor continued.
"A fitting reward for one who has passed the promotion match."
The Blood of ■■■.
I recalled that this was the reward for surviving the promotion match. However, since I didn't know what the redacted part meant, I wasn't particularly impressed.
"...You do not seem surprised."
If anything, the Emperor sounded surprised by my reaction.
Well, of course I wasn't. If I suddenly brought up Gangwon Province's sow-thistle kimchi, would you know what the hell that was?
"If you drink the Blood of ■■■..."
"..."
"...you will inherit the memories of the elves."
Inherit memories?
"For a swordsman, the memories of the empire's greatest sword master."
"Oh."
"For a mage, the memories of the transcendent sage."
"Hmm."
"Thus, all the knowledge and experience accumulated by the elven race will be passed down to you."
"..."
"An elf would slaughter their entire family for a single sip of this."
"..."
"For you, perhaps you will inherit the memories of the loyal subject, Werner."
*Swirl...*
As if tempting me, the Blood of ■■■ began to emit a sweet aroma.
"If you, a human, drink the Blood of ■■■..."
"..."
"...the effects will—"
Ah, seriously. Why is he talking so much?
He said it was a reward for the promotion match. That meant it was mine anyway, right?
*Gulp! Gulp! Gulp!*
I grabbed the golden goblet and chugged the purple liquid down in one go.
"Ahhh."
Tasted just like grape juice.
"...I have never seen anyone drink it in such a manner."
"Well, you prepared it for me to drink, didn't you?"
"..."
The Emperor was left speechless.
You have consumed the Blood of ■■■.
Filtering memories...
Determining compatibility...
The memories of the founder, Alteon, will be inherited.
The moment I blinked, someone's memories flooded into my mind like a movie playing.
◈ Acquired Skill: Dagger Mastery (S)
◈ Acquired Skill: Longsword Mastery (S)
◈ Acquired Skill: Greatsword Mastery (S)
◈ Acquired Skill: Spear Mastery (S)
◈ Acquired Skill: Short Spear Mastery (S)
◈ Acquired Skill: Staff Mastery (S)
◈ Acquired Skill: Archery (S)
◈ Acquired Skill: Rapid-Fire Archery (S)
◈ Acquired Skill: Curved-Path Archery (S)
◈ Acquired Skill: Close-Quarters Archery (S)
◈ Acquired Skill: Throwing Mastery (S)
...
...
...
◈ Acquired Skill: Elven Martial Arts (S)
An astronomical amount of information exploded into my mind. Experiences accumulated over hundreds, no, thousands of years piled up in layers inside my head.
*Drip.*
Perhaps due to the overload, blood began to pour from my nose. Regardless, Alteon's memories and experiences continued to stream in relentlessly.
"Ha..."
A hollow laugh escaped my lips. I couldn't help it. It was basically like getting free skills in real-time.
Of course, they were technically just 'memories' rather than actual system skills. But simply moving according to those memories was more than enough.
Until now, I had relied on basic swordsmanship and martial arts, moving purely on instinct.
But as Alteon's Memories were automatically integrated, they completely replaced the vague, unpolished areas of my combat style.
Thousands of duels. Tens of thousands of battlefields. Every single one of them was vividly engraved into my mind.
This is insane...
Methods to kill a wyvern—a creature I had never even seen—came to me naturally.
Ways to disarm traps I had never encountered before flowed into my mind.
It was as if a complete walkthrough guide for the tower had been uploaded directly into my brain.
With this...
Clearing up to the 80th floor would be a piece of cake.
"Hahaha..."
What a jackpot. I laughed even as blood dripped from my nose.
At that, the Emperor spoke, his initial composure completely gone, replaced by a growing anxiety.
"...Whose memories are you inheriting?"
"Is it Sage Ercil?"
"Hehe..."
"Or is it Knight Chiron?"
"Keke..."
Without answering, I kept snickering as I greedily absorbed Alteon's memories.
Normally, the emotions of the memory's owner would also be absorbed. But was it because I was human?
Alteon's deep love for the Elf Empire was rejected and bounced right off my consciousness.
Now I understood why the Emperor had handed over the Blood of ■■■ so willingly.
He must have thought that the fanatical loyalty of the elves would be inherited along with the memories. That was probably how it had always worked.
"Answer me, Taepyeong!"
At the Emperor's shout, I gently raised my middle finger and replied.
"The founder, Alteon."
Thanks, you bastard.